A mobile communication infrastructure divides the service area into a number of base station areas to provide mobile calling service. In order to increase the service capacity, each base station is again divided into a number of small service zones known as cells. The base stations are controlled by a mobile switching center (MSC) on a centralization basis so that a mobile station can maintain a call while roaming from one cell to another.
Each cell is typically defined by a radio frequency (RF) radiation pattern from a respective base transceiver station (BTS) antenna. A base station controller (BSC) may be coupled to an MSC and a packet data serving node (PDSN). In typical circuit-switched wireless communication systems, the MSC connects the landline public switched telephone network (PSTN) system to the wireless communication system.
The MSC is provided with information about any additional service and charging information of a mobile station in the visitor location register (VLR) and the home location register (HLR). For the service provider, the call charge is a significant factor considered in order to attract more subscribers. As the cost of the mobile calls is generally higher than wired calls, some service providers have begun providing competitive rates, especially in local area, in an attempt to attract more subscribers. As a result, a new billing policy is being used by the mobile service provider to charge their customers at a lower rate in a given service zone, so that mobile service providers can compete with the wired service provider. Thus, in the home zone, which is the main service area of the mobile user, a lower charge is applied to the mobile user; whereas a higher charge is applied in the non-home zones.